The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. It has 18 academic departments divided into five schools offering 31 majors and 57 minors. The military program is made up of cadets pursuing bachelor's degrees who live on campus. The non-military programs offer 12 undergraduate degrees, 26 graduate degrees, as well as evening and online programs with seven online graduate degrees, three online undergraduate degrees, and three certificate programs.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860, and was one of the founding member states of the Confederacy in February 1861. The bombardment of the beleaguered U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861, is generally recognized as the first military engagement of the war. The retaking of Charleston in February 1865, and raising the flag again at Fort Sumter, was used for the Union symbol of victory.
Hugh Smith Thompson was the 81st governor of South Carolina, from 1882 to 1886.
Charleston, South Carolina, was a hotbed of secession at the start of the American Civil War and an important Atlantic Ocean port city for the fledgling Confederate States of America. The first shots against the Federal government were those fired there by cadets of the Citadel to stop a ship from resupplying the Federally held Fort Sumter. Three months later, the bombardment of Fort Sumter triggered a massive call for Federal troops to put down the rebellion. Although the city and its surrounding fortifications were repeatedly targeted by the Union Army and Navy, Charleston did not fall to Federal forces until the last months of the war. Charleston was devastated.
Ellison Capers was a Confederate general in the American Civil War, theologian, college professor and administrator from South Carolina.
The South Carolina Military Academy was a predecessor, two-campus institution to The Citadel. It was established in 1842 by the South Carolina Legislature.
Richard Woodward Colcock was the second Superintendent of the South Carolina Military Academy from 1844 through 1852.
Major James Lide Coker was a businessman, merchant, industrialist, Christian philanthropist, and Civil War veteran, and the founder of Sonoco Products Company and Coker College. He was called "The Major" after his service in the Confederate Army.
Robert Louis Caslen Jr. is a retired United States Army officer who served as the 59th superintendent of West Point from 2013 until 2018 and as the 29th president of the University of South Carolina from July 2019 until May 2021. Between January and May 2019, Caslen was senior counsel to the president and interim chief financial officer at the University of Central Florida. On July 19, 2019, the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina elected him as the school's 29th president, a position he assumed on August 1, 2019. Caslen also served as HigherEchelon's Special Advisor on Executive Leadership and Character Development. He resigned as President at South Carolina on May 12, 2021.
The Battle of Tulifinny was a military engagement of the American Civil War that was fought from December 6–9, 1864 in Jasper County, South Carolina during Sherman's March to the Sea. Outnumbered five-to-one, a Confederate force led by Major-General Samuel Jones, consisting in part of the entire cadet corps of the South Carolina Military Academy, successfully defended a strategically important section of the Charleston and Savannah Railway from attacks by Union forces. The engagement was one of the rare occasions when the United States Marine Corps fought in combat during the conflict and was also the only occasion that the entire student body of a U.S. college fought in combat.
The South Carolina State Arsenal in Charleston, South Carolina was built in 1829 in response to the alleged 1822 slave revolt led by Denmark Vesey. The alleged uprising never came to fruition and Vesey was publicly hanged in 1822. In 1842 the South Carolina Military Academy, a liberal arts military college, was established by the state legislature, and the school took over the arsenal the following year as one of 2 campuses, the other being the Arsenal Academy in Columbia, South Carolina. The school became known as the Citadel Academy because of the appearance of its building. From 1865 to 1881, during Reconstruction, Federal troops occupied the Citadel, and the school was closed. Classes resumed in 1882 and continued in this building until the school was relocated to a new campus on the banks of the Ashley River in 1922.
The Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics coordinates the leadership and ethical programs at The Citadel in South Carolina. The Center, established in 2001, oversees the Four-Year Leader Development Model in which all cadets progress through leadership training.
The History of The Citadel began in the early 1820s with the formation of a militia and state arsenal in response to an alleged slave revolt in 1822. By 1842 the arsenal grew into an academy, with the Legislature establishing it as the South Carolina Military Academy. Cadets played a key role in the Civil War, by firing upon a federal ship three months before the war began. Many Confederate officers attended the school. Renamed in 1910 as The Citadel, the school's academic reputation grew. After moving the campus near Hampton Park in 1922, the college has grown substantially. Sixteen years after legal segregation ended in public schools, the Citadel saw the graduation of its first Black student, Charles D. Foster. After an equally rocky journey forward, the Citadel graduated its first female Cadet, future congresswoman Nancy Mace, in 1999. The school has produced many military officers, business, and political leaders throughout its history.
The Arsenal Academy was a military academy in Columbia, South Carolina, originally established in 1842 as an independent school by the state of South Carolina. In 1845, the academy became a component of the South Carolina Military Academy, in which first year cadets underwent their initial year of training before completing their studies at the larger Citadel Academy in Charleston, South Carolina. The school was burned by Sherman's forces in 1865 and never reopened.
Peter Fayssoux Stevens was an American soldier, educator and clergyman. He was an officer in the Confederate States Army and a bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church who also served as 4th superintendent of the South Carolina Military Academy.
Colonel John Peyre Thomas Sr. was an educator, politician and historian who served as 6th Superintendent of the South Carolina Military Academy.
Colonel Oliver James Bond, South Carolina Militia was an American educator and college administrator who served as both Superintendent and President of The Citadel from 1908 to 1931.
Summerall Chapel is a cruciform chapel on the campus of The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Constructed from 1936 to 1938, the chapel serves the South Carolina Corps of Cadets and the broader Citadel and Charleston communities. The chapel is non-sectarian, but hosts Catholic, Protestant, and Episcopal worship services weekly during the academic year. Additionally, many special events, such as weddings and the annual Christmas Candlelight Service, are hosted in the chapel.
The Daniel Library is the main library of The Citadel, and is located on the college's Charleston, South Carolina campus. The library holds approximately 180,000 volumes in addition to extensive digital collections.
